Mosrite
From ShortScale
Contents |
Mosrite Guitars
Semie Moseley started the Mosrite Company in 1952, with the financial help of Rev. Ray Boatwright; he was 17 years old. He began his career as a guitar tech and custom guitar builder, while working with Paul Bigsby. Semie was building guitars for just about everyone, it seemed, including Joe Maphis and Little Jimmie Dickens. By 1956, he built his first tripleneck guitar. Apparently, during this time, he was working for Rickenbacker, and when he mentioned his new project, he was promptly fired for building one of his own guitars in their factory.
At this point, the Mosrite company mostly consisted of Semie and whatever garage he could work out of. Around 1960, he moved to Bakersfield, CA and set up shop in a friends "tin shed." Actually, it was a one-car garage, and it was here where the famous Mosrite Ventures model was born, with the help of Bill Gruggett. In 1963, Semie loaned Nokie Edwards (lead guitarist of the Ventures) one of his guitars for a recording session, and the entire band just fell in love with the guitar. Within the year, Nokie bought a guitar and helped to orchestrate the distribution deal which would put a Mosrite in the hands of anyone.
.
Going Into Production
Soon after inking the deal with The Ventures, Mosrite started recieving orders from guitar dealers. Building somewhere around 30 guitars a month, the orders kept getting larger and larger. Around this period, Sears & Roebuck Co. attempted to buy the Mosrite Company, but Moseley wouldn't hear of it. By 1968, Mosrite was cranking out 1000+ guitars a month, which included:
- Acoustics
- Standard Electrics
- Double Necks
- Triple Necks
- Basses
- Effects Pedals
- Amps
- Dobros
- Melobar Slide Guitars
Disaster Strikes
Distribution with The Ventures came to a close 5 years after signing the contracts, and the orders for new guitars seemed to stop instantly, so Mosrite signed a new deal with the Thomas Organ Co., the maker of the Vox guitar. This was disastrous, and Mosrite filed for bankruptcy in Feb. of 1969. Following the bankruptcy, Mosrite attempted to sell directly to dealers, and managed to sell 280 guitars, but it wasn't enough to pay the bills. One morning, they arrived at work, only to discover, that the doors had been locked.
A Slight Rebirth
Two years after the bankruptcy, Semie was able to buy back the Mosrite name and set up shop. Over the next 20 years, he moved his factory 3 times: Oklahoma City, Jonas Ridge, NC and to Booneville, Ark. Six months after moving to Arkansas, Semie Moseley died of bone cancer. It was August of 1992.
Collector's Items
Mosrite guitars are definitely collector's items today. Semie's first 3 production guitars are rumored to be worth upwards of $30,000 each and the Bakersfield guitars fetch $2000 and up.
